The Trump administration seized more than 100 million lethal doses of fentanyl this month, hitting a historic milestone it said was achieved through tougher border enforcement.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) exclusively told The Epoch Times on May 15 that its Office of Field Operations reached this amount, with agents at the San Diego Field Office preventing nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl powder from entering the country.
“As the nation’s border security agency, CBP is on the frontline against foreign terrorist organizations that threaten the safety and well-being of Americans,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said.
“CBP is uniquely positioned to detect, identify, and seize illicit drugs like fentanyl before they enter our communities.”
While seizures of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine protect Americans, CBP said, these operations also disrupted illegal supply chains that fuel cartels.
President Donald Trump, upon taking office for his second term, signed executive actions that labeled cartels as terrorist organizations and fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
In addition to a historic amount of fentanyl seizures in fiscal year 2026, the agency said CBP officers seized 152,000 pounds of methamphetamine, which eclipsed all of fiscal year 2025.
Federal agents also seized more than 28,000 pounds of cocaine, surpassing fiscal year 2025 to date by about 6,000 pounds.
Cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana seizures, combined by weight, increased nationwide by 60 percent from April 2024 to April 2026.
This fiscal year, which began in October, has reported a substantial increase in illegal narcotics seizures.
To date, the border patrol has seized 61 percent more illegal narcotics compared to the same period in fiscal year 2024.
“People in the United States are dying from overdoses,” said CBP’s Office of Field Operations Executive Assistant Commissioner Diane J. Sabatino. “Every fentanyl seizure, large or small, represents potential lives saved.”
The agency told The Epoch Times the numbers reflected tougher enforcement by the administration, which it said took a multi-layered approach to illegal drug smuggling and trafficking.
Intelligence, targeting, observing travelers’ behavior, inconsistencies in stories, irregularities in paperwork, discrepancies in cargo, hazardous conditions, specialized training, and protective measures are some of the facets involved in making seizures.
The agency noted to The Epoch Times that it had seen a shift in illegal narcotics smuggling.
Fentanyl is trending from pills to powder form—fentanyl powder contains more doses by weight than individual tablets. Doses can vary, though, CBP said, and can depend on purity and potency.
CBP attributed this trend from pills to powder to the ease with which traffickers can conceal fentanyl, its concentration, and its ability to be mixed with other drugs.
In this form, the illegal narcotic can be hidden in everyday items, mailed in small packages, or trafficked in bulk shipments.
The news came as the Department of Homeland Security hit another milestone: record-low releases at the border.
During Trump’s second term, the department focused on detaining migrants rather than releasing them temporarily as they await immigration hearings.
“The days of catch and release are over,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a May 15 statement.
“We are enforcing the nation’s laws and sending illegal aliens back to their home countries.”
There have been fewer than 9,000 apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border for 15 months, with daily apprehensions down 95 percent from the previous administration.
